“ The culmination of my quest for more powerful learning grounded in theory and research came when recently I conducted an experiment in pushing constructionism into the digital age.” “ Constructionism is based on two types of construction. First, it asserts that learning is an active process, in which people actively construct knowledge from their experience in the world. People don’t get ideas; they make them. This aspect of construction comes from the constructivist theory of knowledge development by Jean Piaget. To Piaget’s concept, Papert added another type of construction, arguing that people construct new knowledge with particular effectiveness when they are engaged in constructing personally meaningful products. ”Imagine my surprise and joy when I realized that I had arrived at constructionism prior to knowing that such a theory even existed. I believe that thousands of other educators are unknowingly working within the constructionist paradigm as well. Although many within the Maker movement are aware that it has it’s roots in constructionism, the movement is gaining impressive momentum without the majority of Makers realizing that there is a strong theoretical foundation behind their work. After I came to understand this connection between my practices and the supporting theoretical framework I was better able to focus and refine my practice. Even more importantly, I felt more confident and powerful in forging ahead with further experiments in the learning situations I design for my learners.
Via Gust MEES

"Coaches operate with an underlying assumption that giving advice to others undermines the confidence and self-worth of others. Others don’t need to be fixed. In teaching we need to move to exactly this stance in order to foster creativity in our students–to allow our students the choice, control, novelty and challenge that builds their creativity.

Without the assumption that our students are already competent, imaginative, and ready to burst forth with regular exhibitions of novel and valuable ideas and products, we are limiting their creative capacities before they’ve even had a chance to discover them."

It remains easy to slip back into the mindset, perhaps habitual, that knowledge is something to be transmitted by the teacher and the student is an empty vessel to be filled. While there is some truth in this stereotype, research on neuro-plasticity, understandings about how learning occurs, and about interpersonal skills suggest clearly that a growth mindset model is more useful for teaching and learning with children and young adults.

“ Change is more difficult than you believe. Having an intellectual understanding the reason something needs to change isn’t enough. An emotional need to change is necessary and more powerful. Change...”
Via Allan Shaw

“Why haven't education reform efforts amounted to much? Because they start with the wrong problem, says John Abbott, director of the 21st Century Learning Initiative. Overhauling the educational paradigm means replacing the metaphor — the concept of the world and its inhabitants as machine-like entities — that has shaped the education system, as well as many other aspects of our culture.”Creating “Collaborative Learning Communities”“It is essential to view learning as a total community responsibility,” he says, and to expect no short cuts. Children need to be integrated, fully contributing members of the broader community, so they can feel useful and valued. (It is not just the children who need this, he adds; healthy communities also need children.).On a practical level, the most powerful lever for change, Abbott says, is people coming together to “rethink the role of community in the learning process,” agreeing how to divide up responsibilities among professional teachers and other community members, and then launching small pilot projects that are true to their new vision. These efforts will build on each other, he says, and large-scale change will follow.
Via Gust MEES

Rocketship Education's new approach to blended learning seeks to increase teacher collaboration and further individualize instruction, but the model poses new challenges for classroom educators.

Stephen Gwilliam's insight:

Q. What implications might this approach have in your school? Changing where & how learning occurs in a traditional school setting requires not only the education of students about change strategies but that of parents attitudes & understanding as well. Why not try an incremental approach this academic year?

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